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THE  LIBRARY 

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THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


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THE  SONG  BOOK 
OF  QUONG  LEE 
OF  LIMEHOUSE 


By  the  Same  Author 


Nights  in  London 

Twinkletoes 

Limehouse  Nights 

Out  and  About  London 

London  Lamps 

Pavements  and  Pastures 

The  Coloured  Causeway 
in  preparation 


THE  SONG   BOOK 

OF    QUONG    LEE    OF 

LIMEHOUSE 


TRANSCRIBED  BY 

THOMAS    BURKE 


NEW  YORK 
HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 

1920 


COPTEIGHT,  1920, 
BY 

HENRY  HOLT  AND   COMPANY 


TO 

WINIFRED 


7594€i8 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Of  Buying  and  Selling ii 

Of   the    Power  of    Music 13 

The  Lamplighter 14 

Declining   an    Invitation 15 

A  Night-piece 17 

A  Smile  Given  in  Passing 18 

Of  a  National  Cash  Register 19 

Under  a  Shining  Window 20 

Exchange  of  Compliments 21 

A  Song  of  Little  Girls 23 

Of  Shop  Windows 24 

At  the  Feast  of  Lanterns 25 

One  Service  Breeds  Another 26 

An  Ofiev  of  a  Lodging 27 

Of  Two  Dwellings 29 

Concerning  English  Gambling 30 

Of  Politicians -  32. 

Of  the  Great  White  War 34. 

At  the  Time  of  Clear  Weather 35 

Parent  and  Child 37 

Of  Worship  and  Conduct  ....,,,  38 


PAGE 

Going  to  Market 39 

A  Portrait 41 

On  a  Saying  of  Mencius 43 

Dockside   Noises 45 

Reproof  and  Approbation 46 

The  Feast  of  Go  Nien 47 

Directions  for  Making  Tea 49 

Of  Inaccessible  Beauty 50 

Night  and  Day 52 

Of  a  Night  in  War-time 53 

A  Love  Lesson 55 

A  Rebuke 57 

Upstairs 59 

Footsteps 60 

Making  a  Feast 61 

The  Case  of  Ho  Ling 62 

An  Upright  Man 64 

Breaking-point 65 

An  English  Gentleman 66 


THE  SONG  BOOK 
OF  QUONG  LEE 
OF  LIMEHOUSE 


OF  BUYING  AND  SELLING 

THROUGHOUT    the    day    I    sit    behind    the 
counter  of  my  shop, 
And  the  odours  of  my  country  are  all  about  me: 
Areca  nut  and  betel  leaf  and  manioc, 
Lon-yan  and  suey  sen, 
Chandoo  and  dried  seaweed, 
Tchah  and  tong-kiang. 

And  these  carry  my  mind  to  half-forgotten  days, 
When  taels  were  plentiful  and  care  was  hard  to  hold. 

All  day  I  sell  for  trifling  sums  the  wares  of  my  own 

land. 
And  buy  for  many  cash  such  things  as  people  wish  to 

sell, 
That  I  may  sell  them  again  to  others,  with  some  profit 

to  myself. 

One  night  a  white-skinned  damsel  came  to  me. 
And  offered,  with  fair  words,  something  she  wished  to 
sell. 

II 


OF  BUYING  AND  SELLING 

Now  if  I  desire  a  jacket  I  can  buy  it  with  coin, 
Or  barter  for  it  something  of  my  stock. 
If  I  desire  rice-spirit,  that,  too,  I  can  buy; 
And  elegant  entertainment  and  delights  are  all  to  be 
had  for  cash. 

But  there  is  one  good  thing  above  all  things  precious, 
That  no  man  may  buy. 

And  though  I  buy  readily  most  things  that  I  desire, 
The  thing  that  the  white  maid  offered  at  my  own  price, 
I  would  not  buy. 


12 


OF  THE  POWER  OF  MUSIC 

IN  the  little  room  behind  my  shop, 
I  refresh  myself  of  an  evening  with  my  machine- 
that-sings. 
Two  songs  has  my  machine-that-sings, 

And  these  are  Hitchy  Koo  and  ff^e  don't  ivant  to 
lose  you. 

When,   in  the  evening,   a  friend  honours  me  with  a 

visit, 
I  entrance  his  ears  with  the  air  of  Hitchy  Koo. 
But  when  I  am  afflicted  with  a  visit 
From  those  who  fill  me  with  a  spirit  of  no-satisfaction, 
I  command  my  machine-that-sings 
To  render  the  music  of  We  don't  want  to  lose  you. 

The  noise  that  at  this  moment  greets  the  ear 
Of  the  elegant  visitor  to  this  despicable  hovel, 
Is  the  incomparable  music  of  Hitchy  Koo. 
And  the  price  of  this  person's  tea 
Is  but  a  paltry  six  shillings  the  pound,  mister. 

13 


THE  LAMPLIGHTER 

THE  dark  days  now  begin,  when  in  aiternoon 
The  Great  Night  Lantern  makes  a  razor-edge 
of  black  and  white. 
And  one  comes  called  the  Lamplighter, 
And    the   straight   stiff   lamps   of    these   stiff   London 

streets, 
At  his  quick  touch  burst  into  light. 

At  this  shy  hour, 

I  see  from  my  unshaded  window, 

Bright  girls,  hair  flowing,  go  by  with  shuttered  faces, 

Holding  close  captive  their  warm  insurgent  bosoms. 

And  then,  at  the  corner, 

Some  slender  lad  with  bold  and  upright  carriage, 

Greets  them,  and  the  shuttered  lanterns  of  their  faces 

Burst  with  light  at  the  touch  of  the  lamplighter. 

O  kind  ingenious  lamplighter. 
Will  you  please  step  this  way? 

14 


DECLINING  AN  INVITATION 

DON'T  think  of  me  as  one  of  no  courtesy, 
O  elegant  and  refined  foreign  one, 
If  I  do  not  accept  your  high-minded  invitation 
To  drink  rice-spirit  with  you, 

At  the  little  place  called  the  Blue  Lantern  near  Penny- 
fields. 

Please  don't  regard  me  as  lacking  in  gracious  be- 
haviour. 

Or  as  insufferably  ignorant  of  the  teachings  of  the 
Book  of  Rites. 

But  I  am  sojourning  here  in  a  strange  land, 

And  am  not  fully  informed  of  the  usages  of  your 
dignified  people. 

As  the  wise  Mencius  observed  in  one  of  his  inspired 
hours, 

Doubtless  thinking  forward  to  situation  of  this  per- 
son— 

15 


DECLINING  AN  INVITATION 

Child  who  has  once  suffered  unpleasant  sensation  of 

burning^ 
'Ever  afterward  reluctant  to  approach  stove. 

Wherefore,  as  this  person  once  accepted  an  Invitation, 

In  words  as  affable  and  polished  as  yours,  Mister, 

To  drink  rice-spirit  at  the  Blue  Lantern, 

And  was  there  subjected  to  a  custom  of  this  country, 

Of  an  entirely  disturbing  and  unpleasing  nature, 

Known  as  Ceremony  of  Confidence; 

He  has,  since  that  day,  viewed  the  Blue  Lantern, 

With  a  feeling  of  most  decided  aversion. 


i6 


A  NIGHT-PIECE 

I  CLIMBED  the  other  day  up  to  the  roof 
Of    the    commanding    and    palatial    Home    for 
Asiatics, 
And  looked  across  this  city  at  the  hour  of  no-light. 
Across  great  space  of  dark  I  looked, 
But  the  skirt  of  darkness  had  a  hundred  rents 
Made  by  the  lights  of  many  people's  homes. 

My  life  is  a  great  skirt  of  darkness, 
But  human  kindliness  has  torn  it  through, 
So  that  it  shows  ten  thousand  gaping  rents 
Where  the  light  comes  in. 


17 


A  SMILE  GIVEN  IN  PASSING 

AS  I  walked  the  street  in  the  purring  evening, 
A  little  maid  with  yellow  curls 
Tossed  me  a  smile;  and  suddenly  Pennyfields 
Was  filled  with  light;  and  the  light  of  the  stars 
Grew  pale. 

I  may  not  see  her  again,  but  I  hold  her  smile  in  my 

heart, 
And  she  is  with  me  in  my  shop  and  about  the  streets. 
My  shop  may  tumble  down; 

West  India  Dock  may  some  time  suffer  a  drought; 
Grief  and  Joy  come  for  a  day; 
And  Hope  and  Fear  and  Desire  and  Deed 
Arise  and  pass  and  are  no  more. 
But  the  beauty  born  of  her  quickened  smile 
Can  never  die. 


i8 


OF  A  NATIONAL  CASH  REGISTER 

LAST  week  this  person,  desiring  to  make  it  known 
J  That  he  was  in  all  ways  moving  up  to  the  date, 
Introduced  into  his  insignificant  shop 
A  machine-that-counts, 
Called  a  National  Cash  Register, 

Which  announces  to  refined  and  intelligent  customers 
The  amounts  of  their  purchases. 

This  week  this  person  purchased  a  whole  day's  amuse- 
ment; 

And  the  amount  he  paid  for  this  was  another's  discom- 
fiture and  pain. 

And  after  a  night  of  cogitation. 

He  is  moved  to  reflect  on  the  far-reaching  and  whole- 
some value 

Of  a  National  Register  which  would  announce  to  the 
face 

Such  purchases  as  these. 


19 


UNDER  A  SHINING  WINDOW 

ALAMPLIT  window 
At  the  top  of  a  tenement  house  near  Poplar 
High  Street 
Shines  fluently  out  of  the  night; 
And  looking  upward  I  see 

That  the  bricks  of  the  house  are  bright  and  fair  to  the 
eye. 

There  are  no  flowers  in  West  India  Dock  Road; 
Nothing  but  brick  and  stone  and  iron  and  spent  air. 
But  when   rough   brick  and  stone  are  a  shrine  for 

beauty, 
They  become  themselves  beautiful. 
Perhaps  if  this  person  encloses  within  himself 
Beautiful  thoughts  and  amiable  intentions, 
His  insignificant  frame  may  acquire 
The  noble  outlines  of  that  tenement  house. 


EXCHANGE  OF  COMPLIMENTS 

AT  ten  o'clock  last  night  an  ugly  fellow 
Of  skinny  exterior  and  most  ungracious  manner, 
Was  thrown  with  a  total  loss  of  gravity 
From  the  flapping  doors  of  the  Blue  Lantern. 

He  lurched  in  most  ungainly  fashion  past  this  person's 

shop, 
This  person  standing  at  his  door, 
And  used  base  language  of  an  unpolished  nature, 
Calling  him  Ugly  Yellow  Bastard, 
Hop  Fiend  and  Dirty  Doper, 
Eater  of  Dogs  and  Cheater  at  Puckapoo, 
Son-of-a-bitch  and  devotee  of  vice. 

This  person  did  not  respond  in  like  manner, 
Knowing  that  he  is  not  himself  all-perfect, 
Nor  even  in  every  hour 

A  devout  follower  of  the  teachings  of  the  Four  Books. 

21 


EXCHANGE  OF  COMPLIMENTS 

He  contented  himself  with  repeating  in  a  far-reaching 

tone, 
The  words  of  the  lofty  Lao  Tzu: 
When  pot  upon  stove  reproveth  kettle  for  blackness. 
Pot  speaking  out  of  his  turn. 


221 


A  SONG  OF  LITTLE  GIRLS 

I  WANT  to  make  a  song  of  the  little  girls 
That  live  about  this  quarter. 

I  could  make  a  song  of  boys  quite  easily  with  words, 

But  words  are  too  blunt  for  such  delicate  things  as 
girls. 

I  would  like  to  make  my  song  of  them  with  bees  and 
butterflies. 

One  looks  at  the  boy,  and  says  Boy; 

And  lo,  one  has  described  him. 

But  little  girls  are  morning  light  and  melody; 

Their  happy  hair  flutters  and  flies,  or  curtains  their 
laughing   faces, 

Faces  glad  as  the  sun  at  dawn. 

Their  clear,  cool  skin  is  like  wine  to  the  eyes. 

The  lines  of  their  fluent  limbs  run  like  a  song. 

And  every  step  is  a  note  of  grace  which  the  frock  re- 
peats. 

Don't  you  think  it  a  pity,  and  greatly  to  be  deplored 

That  these  should  lose  this  beauty, 

And  pass  from  it  to  the  guile  and  trickery  of  woman? 

23 


OF  SHOP  WINDOWS 

LOOKING  closely   at  the  glass  windows  of  my 
J       shop, 
I  see  in  them  the  whole  of  my  shop  reflected. 
Looking  at  my  windows  closely  from  the  street, 
I  see  in  them  the  life  of  the  street  reflected. 
Yet  if  I  stand  some  paces  away,  the  glass  remains 

transparent, 
And  I  see  clearly  through  it  to  the  things  beyond. 

If  I  look  with  close  vision 

Into  the  hearts  of  men, 

I  see  my  own  small  heart  reflected. 

I  will  try  henceforth  not  to  look  at  them  too  closely. 


24 


AT  THE  FEAST  OF  LANTERNS 

LITHELY   on   their   strings   swing   the   many-col- 
J       oured  lanterns, 
For  this  is  the  Feast  of  Lanterns; 
And  Pennyfields  and  West  India  Dock  Road 
Are  to-night  a  part  of  my  own  country, 
Aglow  with  the  hues  of  the  Peacock's  Tail, 
Very  amiable  to  the  eye. 

In  a  recess  of  my  heart 
Is  a  poor  street  hung  with  lanterns. 
These  lanterns  are  my  thoughts, 
And  they  are  lighted  at  the  last  hours  of  the  evenings. 
When  through  this  street 

Walks  the  willowy  maiden  from  the  tea-shop  across 
the  road. 


25 


ONE  SERVICE  BREEDS  ANOTHER 

ONE  of  this  person's  white-skinned  friends,  Bill 
Hawkins, 
Who  labours  at  the  waterside. 
Had  occasion,  at  the  time  of  unkind  weather, 
To  rescue  from  the  certain  peril  of  drowning. 
One  who  had  slipped  from  the  edge  of  a  wharf  to  the 
dock. 

Without  reward  the  flower  serves  the  bee. 

The  mother  serves  the  child  with  pain  and  toil. 

The  soldier  serves  his  king  without  king's  gratitude. 

And  this  person  has  noted  with  much  private  amuse- 
ment 

How,  since  this  one  service  rendered, 

Bill  Hawkins  goes  ever  from  his  accustomed  path 

To  add  service  to  service  to  the  one  he  rescued; 

While  the  rescued  one  looks  ever  upon  Bill  Hawkins 

With  eyes  of  no-approval,  indeed,  with  intense  dis- 
gust. 

26 


AN  OFFER  OF  A  LODGING 

LITTLE  maid  of  the  yellow  curls, 
You  look  sad  as  you  pass  my  window, 
You  look  as  though  you  would  like  to  creep  into  some 

warm  nest. 
And  hide  your  golden  head. 

Oh,  look,  little  maid!     I  have  made  you  a  nest! 
Creep  into  it,  and  I  will  hide  you  away, 
Quietly,  in  the  nest  of  my  heart. 
I  will  wrap  you  around  with  verses,  and  cover  you 
with  fair  thoughts. 

There  is  yet  one  little  corner  left, 
Free  from  the  world's  defilement; 
One  little  corner  where  not  a  breath  of  wrong 
Shall  enter  to  disturb  your  slumbering. 
And  I  will  cherish  you  there 
In  the  nest  you  will  make  so  pure. 

27 


AN  OFFER  OF  A  LODGING 

I  will  hold  you  and  guard  you  safe  from  the  snares 

of  the  stony  streets. 
Be  at  peace,  little  maid,  and  lie  in  trust; 
For  though  my  feet  may  stumble,  and  I  may  fall, 
The  corner  that  houses  you  I  will  ever  keep  whole. 


28 


OF  TWO  DWELLINGS 

AT  the  lower  end  of  Limehouse  Causeway 
Is  a  house  where  girls  surrender  their  bodies 
To  the  pleasure  of  base-minded  and  unpolished  men, 
In  return  for  shillings. 
And  on  the  walls  about  this  house 
Blossoms  at  summer  the  wild  white  rose. 

In  a  tiny  room  at  the  top  of  a  tenement 
Lives  a  white  maid  of  surpassing  virtue, 
Gentle  in  manner  and  quiet  and  dutiful. 
Combing  her  golden  curls  each  morning, 
Before  a  window  that  looks  out  to  hell; 
That   looks   upon   cesspools   of   mud   and   mounds  of 
refuse  and  the  oflfal  of  the  shops. 


29 


CONCERNING  ENGLISH 
GAMBLING 

ONE  morning,  at  the  season  of  Clear  Weather, 
As  I  sat  alone  in  my  Tea-House  of  the  Refined 
White  Lily, 
A  stranger  of  affable  address  approached  me, 
And  showed  me,  with  multitude  of  argument, 
To  what  advantage  I  should  come, 
Were  I  to  place  the  whole  of  my  substance  with  him, 
Even  to  my  shirt. 

In  token  of  my  faith  in  Ice  Cream  Cornet  for  the  Lin- 
colnshire. 

And  because  I  would  not  do  so, 

He  withdrew  himself  from  me  as  from  one  of  mean 

birth  and  behaviour, 
Reviling  me  with  the  name  of  No-Sport 
And  other  characters  of  opprobrium. 

But  this  person  told  him 
That  he  carried  always  on  written  leaves 

30 


CONCERNING  ENGLISH  GAMBLING 

The  words  of  his  august  father, 

Concerning  horses  and   women  and  the  wind  in  the 
hills  and  the  hooting  of  owls. 

He  did  not  tell  him  that  he  knew  full  well 
That  Ice  Cream  Cornet  had  been  scratched  from  the 
Lincolnshire. 


31 


OF  POLITICIANS 

UPON  a  time  the  amiable  Bill  Hawkins, 
Married   a   fair  wife,   demure   and  of   chaste 
repute, 
Keeping  closely  from  her,  however, 
Any  knowledge  of  the  manner  of  man  he  had  been. 

Upon  the  nuptial  night. 

Awaking  and  finding  himself  couched  with  a  woman, 

As  had  happened  on  divers  occasions, 

He  arose  and  dressed  and  departed. 

Leaving  at  the  couch's  side  four  goodly  coins. 

But  in  the  street, 

Remembering  the  occasion  and  his  present  estate  of 

marriage. 
He  returned  with  a  haste  of  no-dignity, 
Filled  with  emotions  of  an  entirely  disturbing  nature, 
Fear  that  his  wife  should  discover  his  absence. 
And  place  evil  construction  upon  it,  being  uppermost. 

32 


OF  POLITICIANS 

Entering  stealthily,  then,  with  the  toes  of  the  leopard, 

With  intention  of  quickly  disrobing, 

And  rejoining  the  forsaken  bride. 

He  perceived  her  sitting  erect  on  the  couch, 

Biting  shrewdly,  with  a  distressing  air  of  experience, 

At  one  of  the  coins. 

Even  so  it  is  when  Biff  Politician  meets  Little  Pol- 
itician. 


33 


OF  THE  GREAT  WHITE  WAR 

DURING  the  years  when  the  white  men  fought 
each  other, 
I  observed  how  the  aged  cried  aloud  in  public  places 
Of  honour  and  chivalry  and  the  duty  of  the  young ; 
And  how  the  young  ceased  doing  the  pleasant  things 

of  youth, 
And  became  suddenly  old, 
And  marched  away  to  defend  the  aged. 

And  I  observed  how  the  aged 

Became  suddenly  young; 

And  mouthed  fair  phrases,  one  to  the  other,  about  the 

Supreme  Sacrifice, 
And  turned  to  their  account-books,  murmuring  gravely : 
Business  as  Usual. 

And  brought  out  bottles  of  wine  and  drank  the  health 
Of  the  young  men  they  had  sent  out  to  die  for  them. 


34 


AT  THE  TIME  OF  CLEAR 
WEATHER 

IN  the  agreeable  public  gardens  of  Poplar 
The  bushes  are  bright  with  buds, 
For  this  is  the  season  of  Clear  Weather. 
There  blossom  the  quiet  flowers  of  this  country: 
The  timid  lilac, 
The  unassuming  hawthorn, 
The  dignified  chestnut, 
And  the  girlish  laburnum; 
And  the  mandarin  of  them  all  is  the  rhododendron. 

In  the  untilled  field  of  my  heart 

Many  buds  are  bursting. 

There  is  a  little  bush  of  kindliness  towards  all  men. 

There  is  a  slender  tree  of  forgiveness  for  all  wrongs. 

There  is  a  humble  growth  of  repentance  for  past  sins. 

And  around  the  field  is  a  thick  hedge  of  thankfulness. 


35 


AT  THE  TIME  OF  CLEAR  WEATHER 

And  ho!  in  the  midst  of  all 
Stands  the  tree  of  a  hundred  boughs, 
Laden  with  the  sweetest  of  all  buds 
Which   are  breaking  to   flower   under  the  sun  of  a 
maiden's  eyes. 


PARENT  AND  CHILD 

OFTEN  of  an  evening  I  take  the  air 
And  linger  on  the  bridge  by  the  Isle  of  Dogs, 
And  sometimes  see 
That  swan-like  shape   of   the  ship  that   brought  me 

hither. 
Often  since  then  that  ship  has  gone 
To  the  land  from  which  it  brought  me, 
And  on  each  voyage  my  heart  accompanies  it. 

Should  I  some  day  in  person  journey  with  it, 

My  honourable  father  would  welcome  his  little  son. 

He  would  not  see  this  worn  and  tattered  one, 

This  lean  and  sorrowful  son  of  the  waterside. 

He  would  not  see  this  parchment  face. 

This  figure  without  lustre. 

He  would  see  his  little  son  who  left  him  long  ago; 

For  love  would  brush  away  the  husk  of  years, 

And  leave  a  little  child. 

37 


OF  WORSHIP  AND  CONDUCT 

AT  the  corner  of  the  Causeway  on  every  seventh 
evening 
Gathers  the  band  of  Salvation  Army, 
Making  big  noise  of  Washed-in-Blood-of-Lamb. 

At  temple  in  East  India  Dock  Road 
Men  gather  in  white  clothes  and  sing, 
And  march  with  candles  and  pray  to  Lady. 

At  shop  in  Pennyfields  many  times  a  day, 
This  person  pays  respect  to  Big  Man  Joss, 
And  burns  to  him  prayer-papers  and  punk-sticks. 

And  all  day  long  men  toil  for  wife  and  child; 
Wife  suffer  and  stint  to  make  bigger  plate  for  child; 
Child  beg  in  street  for  food  for  ailing  mother; 
Sister  wear  ragged  clothes  for  sake  of  little  brother. 

And  none  of  these  bowed  to  Joss, 

Or  marched  with  candle, 

Or  washed  in  Blood  of  Lamb. 

38 


GOING  TO  MARKET 

GOOD  morning,  mister,  how  do  you  do? 
I  am  going  to  Salmon  Lane,  to  the  cheap  mar- 
ket,  for   dainty   foods. 
Won't  you  come  with  me,  mister? 

I  shall  buy  meat  and  fish  and  a  loaf  of  bread, 

And  fresh  fruit  and  potatoes. 

I  shall  buy  a  cluster  of  flowers  and  a  bottle  of  wine, 

Some  butter  and  some  jam, 

And  biscuits  and  nuts  and  candy. 

For  I  give  an  English  feast  to-nig^t  to  a  friend  with 

yellow  curls, 
And  every  dish  will  be  cooked  by  mc. 

Into  the  pot  will  go  sharp  spices  to  flavour  your  Eng- 
lish meats; 
Cayenne  and  thyme  and  sage  and  salt, 
A  sprig  of  parsley  for  garnish, 
And  some  delicate  bamboo  shoots. 

39 


GOING  TO  MARKET 

But  the  sweetest  spice  will  not  be  seen, 

It  will  leap  with  a  spring  from  my  heart  to  the  pot  a* 
I  stir  it. 

I  am  going  to  gather  it  on  the  way  to  the  market 

From  my  own  sweet  thoughts  and  from  elegant  con- 
versation 

With  notable  misters. 

Won't  you  come  with  me? 


40 


A  PORTRAIT 

HOW  shall  I  write  of  you,  little  friend, 
To  my  father  on  the  River  of  Sincerity? 
I  will  tell  him  of  your  twenty  yellow  curls 
Tumbling  in  a  cascade  about  j'our  shoulders; 
Your  bright  mouth  and  fine  brow, 
Lit  by  yet  brighter  eyes, 
Where  fireflies  dance! 
How  in  your  cheeks  you  hold 

The  colours  of  the  flower  before  its  leaves  unclose; 
How  the  tones  of  your  voice  sounding  in  my  ears 
Float  before  my  eyes  like  strings  of  lanterns; 
How  when  I  look  closely  upon  you, 
I  see  my  thoughts  like  a  white  stream  in  your  eyes; 
How,  as  I  walk  down  the  street  where  you  have  trod, 
The  very  stones  are  to  me  the  smiles  that  you  scatter 

as  you  pass. 
How  your  look  thrills  my  heart  as  a  guitar  thrills  to 

the  touch. 


41 


A  PORTRAIT 

And  I  will  tell  him  that  you  are  not  for  me, 

For  you  are  white  and  I  am  yellow; 

Unless,  perchance,  shame  and  disgrace  fell  upon  you, 

As  it  falls  upon  some  girls  of  this  quarter, 

And  your  neighbours  and  friends  passed  by  the  other 

way. 
Then,  perhaps,  it  would  be  permitted  to  me 
To  render  service  to  you. 


42 


ON  A  SAYING  OF  MENCIUS 


T 


HAT  was  well  said  of  Mencius: 
The  misfortunes  of  one  are  the  entertainment 
of  many. 


When  Prosperity  attended  the  occasions  of  this  person, 

And  his  heart  smiled  within  him, 

He  was  regarded  and  received  on  all  sides  by  his  fel- 
lows 

With  attitudes  of  dignity  and  expressions  of  mandarin- 
like solemnity; 

And  his  laughing  heart  could  fetch  no  smile 

To  the  faces  of  those  about  him. 

But  when,  on  a  recent  manifestation  of  evil  spirits, 
He  was  haled  before  those  in  authority, 
And  commanded  to  pay  very  many  taels. 
For  having  in  his  possession  some  morsels  of  the  Great 
Tobacco, 

43 


ON  A  SAYING  OF  MENCIUS 

And  his  heart  was  heavy  and  dark  as  a  rain-cloud 

within  him, 
He  was  received  on  all  sides 
With  attitudes  of  mirth  and  expressions  of  no-gravity. 


44 


T 


DOCKSIDE  NOISES 

HERE  are  in  Limehouse  many  sounds; 
A  hundred  different  sounds  by  day  and  night. 


The  crash  and  mutter  of  the  dockside  railway, 

The  noise  of  quarrel,  the  noise  of  fist  on  face, 

My  country's  songs,  guitars  and  gramophones, 

The  noise  of  boot  on  stone, 

The  noise  of  women  bargaining  their  flesh, 

The  noise  of  singers  in  the  ships, 

Sounds  of  threat  and  sounds  of  fear. 

Blasts  of  hammer  and  steel  and  iron, 

The  scream  of  syren,  the  cry  of  hooter. 

The  clangour  of  angry  bells. 

The  boom  of  Arsenal  guns,  the  clatter  of  factories. 

The  panic  of  feet  and  malevolent  words. 

All  these  sounds  I  know,  and  they  disturb  me  not. 
The  sound  that  is  to  me  most  terrible, 
That  snatches  slumber  from  me. 
Is  the  sound  that  is  most  common ; 
The  scream  of  a  child  at  night. 

45 


REPROOF  AND  APPROBATION 

BECAUSE  I  gave  a  piece  of  silk  to  my  friend  of 
the  golden  curls, 

One  (may  the  dogs  devour  him)  threw  a  stone  at  my 
window, 

And  hooted  and  jeered  and  made  base  noise  with  his 
mouth. 

Nay,  worse,  this  son  of  a  sea-slug  (may  the  floods  over- 
whelm him) 

Hurled  hard  names  at  my  friend, 

Calling  her  Tart  and  Flusey  and  Tom ;  and  as  we 
walked   together, 

Cried:  "Watcher,  Nancy,  who's  yer  friend  with  the 
melon-face, 

And  the  bug-eaten  cabbage-leaf  on  his  head?" 

The  lean  and  scurvy  dog  that  slinks  about  Penny- 
fields, 

Flew  in  great  fear  at  sight  of  this  reprover  of  our 
doings, 

And  came  to  me  and  rubbed  itself  against  my  shoe. 

46 


THE  FEAST  OF  GO  NIEN 

WE  are  now  in  the  Pepper  Month ; 
And  soon  will  come  the  Feast  of  Go  Nien. 
Then  I  will  pay  my  debts,  and  gather  in  my  dues. 
I  will  walk  in  the  great  procession ; 
And  afterwards  I  will  hang  up  my  devil-chasers, 
And  will  proceed  to  the  restaurant  of  Ng  Tack, 
And  drink  spring  wine  with  him  and  my  friends. 

That  evening  I  shall  eat  of  the  best: 
Of  chicken  cream  and  pigeon  in  soy-ed, 
With  a  brown  noodle  of  pork  and  prawn, 
And  a  curry  of  fish  and  a  large  Chung  Goun, 
Sweet  onions  and  black  eggs  and  chow  chow. 
And  when  we  have  done, 

We  will  have  cakes  and  tea  and  music  and  songs, 
And  call  in  our  white  friends  to  sit  with  us. 

For  this  one  day  we  shall  be  each  to  the  other, 
What  the  other  would  desire. 

47 


THE  FEAST  OF  GO  NIEN 

Perhaps  it  is  well  that  this  day 
Comes  but  once  in  the  year's  calendar; 
For  if  we  always  so  behaved,  one  to  the  other, 
There  would  be  no  business  done. 


48 


DIRECTIONS  FOR  MAKING  TEA 

IN   making  tchah  for  table  each  man  has  his  own 
way. 
Some  serve  it  dashed  with  lemon,  and  some  with  bam- 
boo shoot, 
And  some  with  sugar,  in  the  English  way, 
And  some  with  spot  of  sam-shu. 
But  when  one  offers  tchah  to  distinguished  visitor, 
One  offers  the  noble  suey  sen  and  flavours  it 
With  the  dried  bud  of  the  noble  chrysanthemum. 

Consider  these  verses,  little  friend. 

As  cups  of  suey  sen. 

Flavoured  with  the  buds  of  the  flower  of  all  flowers. 


49 


OF  INACCESSIBLE  BEAUTY 

LADIES  in  elegant  silks  and  laces 
Have  come  at  times  to  my  insignificant  shop, 

For  pieces  of  jade  or  banners  or  curious  cuttings  of 
ivory. 

And  I  look  with  insufferable  emotion 

Upon  their  roseleaf  skin, 

And  breathe  the  soft  scents  that  flow  from  their  gar- 
ments, 

And  long  to  soothe  their  lily-fingered  hands. 

Under  their  eyes 

I  am  seized  with  longings  unutterable. 

And  am  filled  with  a  sickness  of  my  present  unkind 
estate. 

But  then  I  remember 
That  Beauty's  not  always  a  star, 
Not  always  remote,  not  always  in  lofty  places, 
Chrysanthemum-clad  and  lily-sheathed; 
But  often  lies  in  the  hedges, 

50 


OF  INACCESSIBLE  BEAUTY 

And  peeps  from  street  corners, 

And  lurks  shyly  behind  broken  doorways. 

And  I  think  upon  the  kind  and  considerate  beauty 
Of  the  maid  with  the  golden  curls, 
And  her  patched,  uncoloured  robes  of  common  cloth. 
And   with   a   change   of   mood    I   charge   the  elegant 

ladies 
Three  times  the  value  of  the  article  chosen, 
And  thus  tear  from  their  flowery  bodies 
Pieces  of  their  billowing  silk 
To  deck  the  less  fervid  beauty  of  my  friend. 


5» 


NIGHT  AND  DAY 

THE  waters  of  the  river  flow  swiftly  at  Lime- 
house  Hole, 
Past  wharves  and  masts  and  funnels 
And  brown  sails  and  beautiful  steel  ahips, 
And  ugly  gardens. 

Throughout  the  day  these  things  are  one; 

One  body  of  dire  endeavour. 

But  when  evening  leads  in  the  night, 

This  thing  is  broken  into  a  thousand  pleasant  things, 

And  the  warm  notes  of  night 

Make  happy  discord  of  the  day's  harsh  harmonies. 


52 


OF  A  NIGHT  IN  WAR-TIME 

UPON  a  night  I  sat  behind  my  shop, 
In  happy  talk  with  casual  company: 
The  upright  Ho  Ling;  the  grave  Cheng  Huan ; 
And  the  round-bodied  and  amiable  Sway  Too  of  my 

own   country ; 
Together  with  the  maid  of  the  golden  curls, 
A  sad-eyed  seaman  from  Malay, 

And   two  pale  Englishmen,   Bill   Hawkins   and  Jack 
Brown. 

We  sat  beneath  the  lantern  and  drank  our  tchah  in 

fellowship. 
And  spoke  of  this  and  of  that. 
And  the  moon  rose  and  mated  with  the  soft  smells  of 

my  store. 
And  brought  forth  a  spirit  that  spoke  to  us 
Of  things  forgotten  or  lost  or  long  despaired  of. 

Friendship  bound  us  together,  and  we  sat  late, 
Gltd  of  the  night  and  each  glad  of  his  companions; 

53 


OF  A  NIGHT  IN  WAR-TIME 

While  men  in  another  land 

Wrought  horrors  upon  their  fellows  beneath  this  moon, 
Drunk  with  the  wicked  words  of  the  wicked  lords  of 
men. 


54 


A  LOVE  LESSON 

LAST  night  I   dreamed   of  the  maid  with  yellow 
J       curls, 
She  came  to  me  in  the  room  above  my  shop, 
And  we  two  were  alone,  freed  from  the  laws  of  day. 
I  held  her  then  to  myself. 

I  took  from  her  her  clothing,  garment  by  garment, 
And  watched  them  fall  about  her  feet  — 
White  petals  of  a  flower. 
And  I  drew  from  her  to  myself  her  thoughts,  one  by 

one, 
As  often  I  had  wished,  till  all  of  her  was  mine. 
And  then  I  was  sad,  for  nothing  was  left  to  love. 

And  quickly  I  clothed  her  again,  garment  by  garment, 

And  gave  her  back  her  thoughts,  one  by  one. 

And  awoke  in  joy. 

I  was  glad  that  the  dream  was  a  dream. 

And  that  all  of  her  was  not  mine; 

55 


A  LOVE  LESSON 

For  I  had  learned 

That  love  released  from  bond,  and  unburdened  of  its 

fetters, 
Is  love  no  longer. 


56 


A  REBUKE 

EXCUSE  me,  mister,  If  I  enter  a  gentle  protest 
About  the  manner  in  which  you  comport  your- 
self, 
When  taking  the  air  about  the  streets. 
For  looking  at  you,  one  would  form  the  opinion 
That  you  were  a  man  of  much  worth  and  nobility. 
That  you  were  high  in  officialdom, 
A  councillor  of  the  king  or  a  learned  judge, 
Or  one  whose  piety  and  wisdom 
Had  marked  him  out  to  sit  above  his  fellows. 

One  would  think  thus  to  see  the  swinging  arms, 
The   slow   protuberant   belly,   sheathed    in    a   vest  of 

scarlet. 
And  the  gold  chain  of  Albert,  the  great  Consort; 
To  see  the  haughty  head,  the  portly  mien. 
The  solemn  gait,  and  the  complacency  with  which  you 

view  the  world. 

57 


A  REBUKE 

Don't  interrupt!     I  only  wished  to  tell  you 
That  your  claim  to  the  excessive  esteem  of  your  neigh- 
bours 
Is  wholly  without  foundation. 
Do  please  remember,  mister,  that  that  scarlet  belly 
Was  acquired  by  the  labours  of  little  children 
Whom  you  employ  to  stick  labels  on  bottle*. 


5» 


I 


UPSTAIRS 

HAVE  lifted  her  over  my  threshold  to-night. 


Many  moons  have  risen  and  set  since  she  received  my 

napi; 
But  now  she  is  here  and  has  entered  my  upper  room, 
Where  is  a  shrine  for  the  joss  of  happiness, 
And  a  soft  couch  and  delicate  hangings, 
And  fine  things  for  fine  fingers  to  handle, 
And  shaded  lanterns  and  a  guitar  and  my  machine- 

that-sings. 

There  are  ornaments  of  jade  and  lacquer. 

And  the  bamboo  pipe  that  I  have  laid  aside, 

And  the  written  leaves  containing  my  verses. 

But  there  are  no  writing-tablets,  no  ink  and  no  brushes. 

For  now  my  verses  will  be  written  upon  her  brow. 


59 


FOOTSTEPS 

AS  I  lie  on  my  pallet  at  night, 
I  hear  from  the  street  the  sound  of  passing  foot- 
steps ; 
And  I  can  sort  and  name  these  passing  footsteps. 
There    are    the    truculent    steps    of    the    seeker    after 

trouble. 
There  are   the  fearful   feet  of  those  who  are  not  at 

ease 
In  these  implacable  streets. 
There  are  the  fugitive  feet  of  crime, 
And  the  solemn  re-assuring  tread  of  big  policemen ; 
And  the  interrupted  steps  of  the  revellers, 
And  the  fleet  feet  of  those  who  have  purchased  trouble. 

But  those  that  tread  most  heavily  on  my  heart 
Are  the  light  and  lingering  footsteps  of  tired  young 
women. 


60 


H 


MAKING  A  FEAST 

O!     Friend   and   enemies  of   Pennyfields, 
A  feast  is  spread,  and  you  are  all  invited. 


Many  tides  have  risen  and  retired 

Since  I  exchanged  the  fervid  skies  of  my  own  country 
For  the  thin  skies  and  leaden  streets  of  the  West. 
Long  have  I  sojourned,  seeking  my  desire. 
Keeping  my  shop,  and  looking  always  with  long  eyes 
At  others'  guesting-tables,  at  whose  top  sat  love. 

From  my  cold  corner 

I  have  watched  their  feast  of  fondness,  and  my  heart 
has  left  me 

And  has  beaten  like  a  lost  bird  at  their  warm  win- 
dows, 

And  none  would  let  him  in. 

But  now,  O  honourables. 
My  window  is  alight,  my  room  is  warmed, 
The  table  is  set  and   the  places  are  laid,   and   Love 
waits  to  greet  you. 

6i 


THE  CASE  OF  HO  LING 

TRULY  the  ways  of  mandarins  are  inscrutable. 
My  estimable  and  upright  friend,  Ho  Ling, 

Long  had  desired  to  return  to  his  own  country. 

He  bore  himself  in  Limehouse  without  reproach, 

A  reputable  stranger,  of  mild  manners  and  sweet  of 
address. 

Against  him  none  could  bring  a  charge  or  speak  a  word 
of  upbraiding. 

He  conformed  in  all  ways  to  the  laws  of  correct  con- 
duct. 

Yet  when  he  sought  assistance  to  return  to  his  own 

country, 
Being  without  means, 
And  hung  at  the  ear  of  notable  men  who  could  help 

him, 
They  refused  to  hear  him, 
And  would  in  no  way  help  him  to  go  where  his  heart 

was  set. 

62 


THE  CASE  OF  HO  LING 

Even  the  charitable  ones  regretted 
That  his  case  was  not  for  them. 

Wherefore  my   friend   forsook  his  quiet   and   regular 

ways, 
And  went  about  as  one  possessed  by  thunder  and  fire, 
Stormily;  doing  many  things  of  a  reprehensible  char- 
acter, 
Committing  grave  misdemeanours  in  the  public  streets, 
And  following  evil  ways  in  a  manner  to  attract  atten- 
tion. 

Whereupon, 

The  lords  of  this  country  placed  him  upon  a  boat. 

And  commanded  that  he  should  be  carried  at  their  own 

cost 
To  the  place  whither  he  most  desired  to  go. 


63 


AN  UPRIGHT  MAN 

THE  grave  and  thin-faced  one  who  keeps  the  Be- 
spoke Tailors'  Shop, 
And  subjects  his  child  to  treatment  of  an  ungenerous 

nature, 
Never  goes  into  the  Blue  Lantern; 
Never  takes  pellet  of  li-un  or  nut  of  areca, 
Or  communes  with  Black  Smoke, 
Or  loses  money  at  puckapoo, 
Or  makes  public  outcry  or  gesture  expressive  of  delight 

in  his  friends. 
Or  does  foolish  or  unworthy  things, 
Or  makes  exchange  of  hats  with  friends. 

He  has  no  friends,  for  he  has  no  weaknesses. 
While  others  fall  to  the  simple  follies  of  humanity, 
He  walks  ever  upright  and  self-contained,  devout  and 

dignified, 
And  ill-treats  his  child  at  night. 

64 


BREAKING-POINT 

MANY  heavy  blows  has  this  patient  person's  back 
received, 
These  many  years. 
He  has  lost  friends  and  money ; 
He  has  lost  his  own  country; 
His  well-framed  enterprises  have  gone  awry, 
And  his  heart  has  gone  hungry  these  many  years  for 
love. 

All  these  things  he  has  suffered  without  murmur. 
One  thing  alone  has  driven  him  to  utter  piercing  cries, 
And  make  gestures  expressive  of  volcano  in  eruption; 
And  that  is  the  bootmender  across  the  road 
Who  sings  hymns  to  himself  in  the  evening. 

For  that  is  true  that  the  sage  has  spoken : 

That  it  is  the  smell  of  gin-and-onions  about  the  secre- 
tary 

That  drives  his  master  who  long  has  suffered  gin-and- 
cloves 

To  the  breaking-point  of  exasperation. 

65 


AN  ENGLISH  GENTLEMAN 

I  DETERMINED    yesterday    to   become    English 
gentleman ; 
And  I  have  this  morning  bought  a  bowler  hat. 
I  have  bought  brown  boots  and  a  suit  of  rare  blue 

serge, 
Which  the  affable  one  who  supplied  me  with  it, 
Spoke  of  as  Natty;  and  added  his  assurance 
That  I  would  look  Quite  the  Gentleman. 
I  have  bought  white  collars  and  many  coloured  ties, 
And  a  walking-stick  and  a  blue-spotted  shirt. 

Appareled  thus,  I  strolled  this  evening  down  Penny- 
fields, 

And  the  old  men  came  out  with  expressions  of  no- 
kindness. 

They  made  ugly  mouths, 

And  passed  words  one  to  the  other  of  a  derisive  nature. 

But  I  am  young  Quong  Lee, 
Who  write  verse  in  the  English  tongue, 

66 


AN  ENGLISH  GENTLEMAN 

And  am  quite  English  gentleman. 
And  English  gentleman 

Not  suffer  himself  to  be  disturbed  by  the  hooting  of 
owls. 


67 


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